Geneva man withdraws from D-304 race after opinion issued

GENEVA – Geneva resident Jay Moffat has withdrawn from the Geneva School District 304 board race, but he’s still in races for the Geneva Park District and Geneva Public Library District.

Moffat had filed to run in the three races, but he decided Thursday to withdraw from the school board race after getting an opinion from the Illinois Attorney General’s Office saying that serving on the school and park boards would be incompatible because of overlapping interests.

He said the decision to withdraw from the school board race was “tremendously difficult,” but he decided to give up that race because it leaves eight candidates running for four open seats.

He said if he withdrew from the park commission race, it would leave only two candidates who filed to run for two open seats.

“I filed for so many races because I wanted to give people a choice,” he said. “If I dropped out of the park race, there wouldn’t be a race.”

Moffat said he decided Dec. 1 that he would file for the three boards. He said he initially wanted to run in a fourth race for Geneva Township trustee, but that race conflicted with the three others he wanted to enter.

He said he received an opinion from the attorney general’s office Dec. 20 stating that the school board and park district offices would be incompatible.

Moffat, 56, said he’s seeking more than one office because he has a passion to serve the community. He said while working two jobs as a banker and air traffic controller at O’Hare International Airport, he volunteered for numerous organizations, including Geneva Lions Club, the Geneva Senior Housing Corporation and the Geneva Beautification Committee.

He also has served on the Geneva Plan Commission since 1990 – a position he said he would step down from if elected to the park or library boards to avoid conflicts of interest.

Moffat retired about two months ago after working 31 years as an air traffic controller and has been retired from his banking job since 2005. He said he feels he’s capable of juggling the park and library boards if elected.

“I absolutely can handle the demands of either of those,” he said. “I’m used to working 80-plus hours a week. Now I’m freed up an extra 80 hours a week.”